-.. _test_environment:
-
Test Environment
================
-CSIT performance tests are executed on physical testbeds hosted by
-:abbr:`LF (Linux Foundation)` for FD.io project. Each testbed consists of
-either one (2-node) or two (3-node) servers acting as Systems Under Test (SUT)
-and one server acting as Traffic Generator (TG).
+.. _test_environment_versioning:
+
+Environment Versioning
+----------------------
+
+CSIT test environment versioning has been introduced to track
+modifications of the test environment.
+
+Any benchmark anomalies (progressions, regressions) between releases of
+a DUT application (e.g. VPP, DPDK), are determined by testing it in the
+same test environment, to avoid test environment changes clouding the
+picture.
+
+A mirror approach is introduced to determine benchmarking anomalies due
+to the test environment change. This is achieved by testing the same DUT
+application version between releases of CSIT test system. This works
+under the assumption that the behaviour of the DUT is deterministic
+under the test conditions.
+
+CSIT test environment versioning scheme ensures integrity of all the
+test system components, including their HW revisions, compiled SW code
+versions and SW source code, within a specific CSIT version. Components
+included in the CSIT environment versioning include:
+
+- **HW** Server hardware firmware and BIOS (motherboard, processsor,
+ NIC(s), accelerator card(s)), tracked in CSIT branch in
+ :file:`./docs/lab/<server_platform_name>_hw_bios_cfg.md`, e.g. `Xeon
+ Skylake servers
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab/testbeds_sm_skx_hw_bios_cfg.md#n556>`_.
+- **Linux** Server Linux OS version and configuration, tracked in CSIT
+ Reports in `SUT Settings
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/master/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_
+ and `Pre-Test Server Calibration
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/master/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#id21>`_.
+- **TRex** TRex Traffic Generator version, drivers and configuration
+ tracked in `TG Settings
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/master/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_.
+- **CSIT** CSIT framework code tracked in CSIT release branches.
+
+Following is the list of CSIT versions to date:
+
+- Ver. 1 associated with CSIT rls1908 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls1908>`_, `Linux
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls1908/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls1908/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls1908>`_).
+- Ver. 2 associated with CSIT rls2001 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2001>`_, `Linux
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2001/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2001/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2001>`_).
+- Ver. 4 associated with CSIT rls2005 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2005>`_, `Linux
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2005/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2005/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2005>`_).
+- Ver. 5 associated with CSIT rls2009 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2009>`_, `Linux
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2009/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2009/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2009>`_).
+
+ - The main change is TRex data-plane core resource adjustments:
+ `increase from 7 to 8 cores and pinning cores to interfaces <https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/csit/+/28184>`_
+ for better TRex performance with symmetric traffic profiles.
+- Ver. 6 associated with CSIT rls2101 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2101>`_, `Linux
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2101/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://docs.fd.io/csit/rls2101/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2101>`_).
+
+ - The main change is TRex version upgrade:
+ `increase from 2.82 to 2.86 <https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/csit/+/29980>`_.
+- Ver. 7 associated with CSIT rls2106 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2106>`_, `Linux
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/rls2106/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/rls2106/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2106>`_).
+
+ - TRex version upgrade:
+ `increase from 2.86 to 2.88 <https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/csit/+/31652>`_.
+ - Ubuntu upgrade:
+ `upgrade from 18.04 LTS to 20.04.2 LTS <https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/csit/+/31290>`_.
+- Ver. 8 associated with CSIT rls2110 branch (`HW
+ <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/docs/lab?h=rls2110>`_, `Linux
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/rls2110/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#sut-settings-linux>`_,
+ `TRex
+ <https://s3-docs.fd.io/csit/rls2110/report/vpp_performance_tests/test_environment.html#tg-settings-trex>`_,
+ `CSIT <https://git.fd.io/csit/tree/?h=rls2110>`_).
+
+ - Intel NIC 700/800 series firmware upgrade based on DPDK compatibility
+ matrix: `depends on testbed type <https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/csit/+/33311>`_.
+
+To identify performance changes due to VPP code development between previous
+and current VPP release version, both have been tested in CSIT environment of
+latest version and compared against each other. All substantial progressions and
+regressions have been marked up with RCA analysis. See
+:ref:`vpp_throughput_comparisons` and :ref:`vpp_known_issues`.
+
+Physical Testbeds
+-----------------
+
+FD.io CSIT performance tests are executed in physical testbeds hosted by
+:abbr:`LF (Linux Foundation)` for FD.io project. Two physical testbed
+topology types are used:
+
+- **3-Node Topology**: Consisting of two servers acting as SUTs
+ (Systems Under Test) and one server as TG (Traffic Generator), all
+ connected in ring topology.
+- **2-Node Topology**: Consisting of one server acting as SUTs and one
+ server as TG both connected in ring topology.
+
+Tested SUT servers are based on a range of processors including Intel
+Intel Xeon Skylake-SP, Intel Xeon Cascade Lake-SP, Arm,
+Intel Atom. More detailed description is provided in
+:ref:`tested_physical_topologies`. Tested logical topologies are
+described in :ref:`tested_logical_topologies`.
-Server Specification and Configuration
---------------------------------------
+Server Specifications
+---------------------
-Complete specification and configuration of compute servers used in CSIT
-physical testbeds is maintained on wiki page `CSIT testbed - Server HW
-Configuration (Haswell) <https://wiki.fd.io/view/CSIT/CSIT_LF_testbed>`_ and
-`CSIT testbed - Server HW Configuration (Skylake/ARM)
-<https://wiki.fd.io/view/CSIT/fdio_csit_lab_ext_lld_draft>`_.
+Complete technical specifications of compute servers used in CSIT
+physical testbeds are maintained in FD.io CSIT repository:
+`FD.io CSIT testbeds - Xeon Cascade Lake`_,
+`FD.io CSIT testbeds - Xeon Skylake, Arm, Atom`_.
Code Review / csit.git / blobdiff